In this blog I present the results of my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

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Sunday, 18 August 2013

(64) Ainsworth of Backbarrow, The Flosh and Ardanaiseig, baronets

Ainsworth baronets

Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1785) from
Blackburn (Lancs) established a cotton mill at Backbarrow in Haverthwaite
(Lancs, now Cumbria) and lived latterly in the mill house there. The property passed to his youngest son, Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1853), who rebuilt the mill in 1823 and Backbarrow House at much the same time. In the next generation the business passed to two elder sons, Thomas Ainsworth (c.1807-75) and William Ainsworth (c.1808-62), who worked in partnership until 1852, when the partnership was dissolved, Thomas taking the Backbarrow property and continuing to trade as T. & W. Ainsworth, and William taking a cotton mill at Preston which the family also owned. Thomas got into financial difficulties and the house and mills at Backbarrow were sold in 1871, but Thomas was still bankrupted in 1874 and died the following year. It is possible that Backbarrow House was bought in 1871 by Thomas' youngest brother, Lt-Col. David Ainsworth (1823-1907), although he seems never to have lived there, renting Broughton Hall near Grange-over-Sands instead.

The second son of the first Thomas
Ainsworth, David Ainsworth (d. 1819) moved to Preston, and his son, Thomas
Ainsworth (1804-81), bought the Cleator Linen Mills in Cumberland and the
nearby house called The Flosh from Henry Birley in about 1837. Thomas at once remodelled the house and in
1866 further extended it by the addition of a new neo-Elizabethan wing with
rich interiors. The linen mills seem to
have been successful and Thomas also developed iron ore deposits on his land,
became an ironmaster and acquired shipping interests, so that at his death he
left a substantial estate of £55,862.

Advertising image for Cleator Flax Mills c.1900

The Flosh passed to his eldest son, David Ainsworth (1842-1906), who
became MP for West Cumberland, 1880-85 and Egremont 1892-95. However in 1898 David purchased Wray Castle,
Hawkshead (Lancs) and this became his main seat for the last decade of his
life. He had no children and Wray Castle
seems to have been sold after his death, while The Flosh passed to his younger
brother, John Stirling Ainsworth (1844-1923), who was trained as a lawyer. He used his share of his father’s estate to
buy and substantially rebuild Harecroft Hall at Gosforth (Cumberland) and to
purchase and update Ardanaiseig in Argyllshire.
Harecroft was near to his family’s business interests in Cumberland and
may at first have been his main home, as he was High Sheriff of Cumberland in
1891 and Lt-Col. of the 3rd volunteer battalion of the Border
Regiment in 1898-1902. Later his
interests may have shifted more to Scotland, where he became Liberal MP for
Argyllshire in 1903-18; following his retirement was created a baronet.

Sir John’s son, Sir Thomas Ainsworth, 2nd bt. (1886-1971) seems to have been a dedicated foxhunting man. In the 1920s and 1930s he lived in Ireland
and served as MFH of a number of hunts in Meath, Galway, Kildare and Tipperary. He settled eventually at Ballinakill,
Kilfinny, Limerick, but it is not clear at what point he sold Harecroft, which
became a prep school, or Ardanaiseig, which was converted into an hotel in
1979-80.

In 1925 Sir Thomas had an affair with a
married woman, Mrs Hope-Johnstone, which resulted in both of them being
divorced by their spouses and marrying shortly afterwards. He had sons by both of his two
marriages. The elder, Sir John Francis
Ainsworth, 3rd bt. (1912-81), became an archivist and historian at
the National Library of Ireland and lived at Carraphuca, Shankill
(Dublin). Like his father his interests
were mostly in Ireland, although he was Chairman of the British Record Society
1937-40, and he sold The Flosh, which had come to him on his grandfather’s
death, to Ennerdale RDC, which turned it into offices; it is now an hotel. He died without issue and the baronetcy
passed to his half-brother, Sir (Thomas) David Ainsworth, 4th bt.
(1926-99), a merchant banker. The
present holder of the title is his son, Sir Anthony Thomas Hugh Ainsworth, 5th bt. (b. 1962), who lives in Bangkok (Thailand).

Backbarrow House, Upper Holker, Lancashire (now Cumbria)

A large early 19th century Tudor house of white limestone
with gables, mullioned windows and conspicuous chimneys, built probably to the
designs of George Webster of Kendal for the Ainsworth family, close to their
cotton mill at Backbarrow. The house was
depicted in a lost painting of 1848 by James Foley, and described as a
gentleman’s residence when it was sold in 1871. It was
demolished in the 1930s and only the entrance gates remain; no photograph of it has been found. The adjacent Backbarrow Mills were noted in the 19th century for their picturesque setting, but their proximity to the house may have militated against its survival after they passed into separate ownership in the 1870s.

The Flosh, Cleator Moor, Cumberland

The Flosh from an old postcard of c.1905.

An
earlier house was enlarged in 1837 when
Thomas Ainsworth purchased it and again in 1866, when the neo-Elizabethan gabled south
wing was added. The
buildings of different dates are now united by a cream roughcast with red sandstone
dressings. The disused porch is
castellated, with gargoyles and much fussy carving, and in the cross-hall is a hugely over-designed Gothic fireplace, dated 1866.
The east rooms, overlooking the garden, with their elaborately moulded
and gilded ceilings, can all be thrown together by removing sliding partitions. The house was used as offices by Ennerdale Rural District Council and its successors in the second half of the 20th century but is now Ennerdale Country House hotel.

The Flosh: dining room in the 1866 wing.

Descent:
Henry Birley (fl. early 19th cent.) sold c.1837 to Thomas Ainsworth
(1804-81); to son, David Ainsworth MP (1842-1906); to brother, Sir John
Stirling Ainsworth, 1st bt. (1844-1933); to son, Sir Thomas Ainsworth, 2nd bt. (1886-1971), who sold c.1938 to Ennerdale
RDC; transferred 1974 to Copeland DC; who sold for conversion to hotel.

Wray Castle, Hawskhead, Lancashire (now Cumbria)

A castellated mansion, built in 1840-47 for Dr.
James Dawson, a Liverpool surgeon, of sawn slate with hammered grey limestone
dressings. It was designed by J.J.
Lightfoot, a close friend of Thomas Rickman, who is said to have drunk himself to
death before the house was finished.Wordsworth thought the house “added a dignified feature to the
interesting scenery in the midst of which it stands”.It has a vast turreted porte-cochere and a tall central lantern tower which
dominate a generally asymmetrical and top-heavy building.The battlements are robustly machicolated and
punctuated by high-level turrets, daringly corbelled out from the wall, and the
windows are inauthentically splayed on the outside.The interior wastes a great deal of space:
the broad central axis is articulated into three parts by triple Gothic
colonnades without capitals.Each
section looks up through a hole into the upper landing, the central section
right up into the lantern with its tall windows and niches and its turrets
corbelled in at the corners (which do not appear outside!).

Wray Castle: looking up into the central lantern tower from the inner hall

The upper landing offers not just the
reciprocal views to the floor below and the lantern above but also an extended
vista into the billiard room over the porte-cochere.The principal rooms are themed Gothic, though
they have lost much of their richness.Mouldings and doors are on a gigantic scale, but the window traceries
with their armorial glass are rather fiddly.Were the main lights always fitted with plate glass?The Music Room on the west side, reached
awkwardly across a service corridor, has a Jacobean theme including a ceiling
bedecked with threatening pendants.The
Morning Room in the SE corner, incorporating a turret, has a bastard classical
ceiling, linenfold panelling and a curious alternation of windows and
niches.The back stair is the most
dramatic space of all, climbing up in vertiginous stages to the lantern tower.In the grounds, the fernery is a castellated
glasshouse with a pyramid roof, ingeniously framed with chunks of limestone
pavement.There are also a gardener’s
houe and boathouse in the same style.The lodge is a little later than the house (perhaps 1856) and lacks some
of its characteristic detail, but is still castellated and asymmetrical.In 1991 the house was let and not in
particularly good condition; it is now open to be public but largely
unfurnished.

Descent: Dr. James Dawson (d. 1875); to
nephew, Edward Preston Rawnsley; who rented by 1883 and sold 1898 to David
Ainsworth (1842-1906); to widow, Margaret Ainsworth (d. 1920); sold after her death to Sir
Noton Barclay, who gave 1929 to National Trust, which let it until c.2010 when it
was opened to the public.

Ardanaiseig, Kilchrenan, Argyllshire

Ardanaiseig House: entrance front

Ardanaiseig House: the garden front

A two-storey mansion of granite with sandstone dressings, built by
William Burn for James Archibald Campbell in 1833-34 and known first as New
Inverawe. It is an asymmetrical
crowstepped Jacobean house which sprawls north to a stable court. The east (garden) front, though architecturally dull,
enjoys a splendidly contained prospect of Loch Awe across terraced lawns. The house was modernised after 1880 for Sir
John Ainsworth and was converted into an hotel in 1979-80. The combination of muscular Gothic details from the 1880s and modern decorator's colours and fabrics has considerable charm but led one journalist to describe it as a combination of Edgar Allen Poe and Laurence Llewellyn Bowen!

Harecroft Hall, Gosforth, Cumberland

A
rather low early 19th century house enlarged in 1881 with gables,
slate hanging, timber framing and diamond shaped chimneys for Sir John Stirling
Ainsworth (1844-1933). It was used as a prep school in
the late 20th and early 21st century but was for sale in
2012.

Descent:
...sold by 1877 to Sir John Stirling Ainsworth, 1st bt.
(1844-1923); to son, Sir Thomas Ainsworth, 2nd bt. (1886-1971) who
sold in or soon after 1924 for use as a school.

The Ainsworths of Backbarrow, The Flosh, Ardanaiseig and Harecroft Hall

Ainsworth, Thomas (d. 1785), of Backbarrow. Cotton manufacturer at Backbarrow (Lancs). He married 1769, Sarah (d. 1796), daughter of David Barton and had issue:

(1) Joseph Ainsworth;(2) David Ainsworth (d. 1819) (q.v.);(3) Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1853) (q.v.).He lived at Blackburn (Lancs) and later at Backbarrow (Lancs).He died in 1785.Ainsworth, Thomas (c.1777-1853), of Preston and Backbarrow. Youngest son of Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1785) and his wife Sarah, daughter of David Barton. Cotton manufacturer at Backbarrow (Lancs); in partnership with William Ainsworth of Preston to 1852. He married Lydia Wells, daughter of Rev. William McQuhae of St. Quivox, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and had issue including:(1) Thomas Ainsworth (c.1807-75) (q.v.); (2) William Ainsworth (c.1808-62) of Preston, cotton spinner and manufacturer; JP; in partnership with his elder brother until 1852; died unmarried, 22 March 1862; will proved 4 June 1862 (estate under £16,000);(3) Elizabeth Ainsworth (b. c.1811); died unmarried;(2) Lt-Col. David Ainsworth (1823-1907) (q.v.)He inherited the house and mill at Backbarrow from his father and rebuilt the mill in 1823.He died in 1853.Ainsworth, Thomas (c.1807-75), of Backbarrow. Elder son of Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1853) and his wife Sarah, daughter of David Barton; born about 1807. Cotton manufacturer at Backbarrow; bankrupt 1874. He married, 21 July 1851, Mary McDowal of Maybole (Ayrshire) and had issue:(1) Mary Bonella Ainsworth (1854-1946), m. 3 May 1876, Francis Janvrin (1851-91), son of Thomas Ashton Hodgson Dickson of Abbots Reading, Haverthwaite (Lancs) and had issue one son and one daughter; died 3 July 1946; will proved 4 September 1946 (estate £3,662);(2) Lydia Anne Ainsworth (b. c.1856); unmarried and working as a secretary in London, 1891;(3) Florence Elizabeth Ainsworth (c.1857-1934); died unmarried, 6 April 1934; will proved 12 June 1934 (estate £2871).He inherited the house and mill at Backbarrow from his father in 1853, but in 1871 sold the house and mills; in 1874 the firm of T. & W. Ainsworth was liquidated for the benefit of the creditors. He died at Torquay, 25 April 1875, aged 68; will proved 27 May 1876 (estate under £100).Ainsworth, Lt-Col. David (1823-1907), of Backbarrow. Third son of Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1853), born 21 August 1823. Educated at Rugby, Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1842; Civil Law Tripos, 1st Class, 1847; LL.B. 1864); and the Inner Temple (admitted 1843; called to the bar, 1849); special pleader; an income tax commissioner; JP and DL for Lancashire; Major in 4th battn, Lancashire militia 1874-81; Lt-Col. commanding 1st volunteer battn. King's Own (Royal Lancaster) regiment. He married, 28 June 1860, Mary Jane Leigh, second daughter of William Clare, late of Hindley House (Lancs) but was without issue.In 1880-91 he rented Broughton Hall, Grange in Cartmel. He may have bought Backbarrow House when it was auctioned in 1871, but if so he seems never to have occupied it.He died 7 April 1907 at Boscombe (Hants) and his will was proved 28 May 1907 (estate £10,571).Ainsworth, David (c.1773-1819), of Preston. Second son of Thomas Ainsworth (d. 1785) and his wife Sarah, daughter of David Barton. Capt-Lieutenant in the Loyal Preston Volunteers, 1801. Cotton spinner and machinery manufacturer; bankrupted in 1807-08 by the failure of both businesses (Watson Ainsworth & Co. and Watson, Kay, Catterall & Ainsworth), but discharged later the same year; later a partner in Ainsworth, Catterall & Co of Backbarrow and Church Street Mill, Preston, which in 1816 became the second factory in Preston to be lit by gas. He married, 11 February 1801, Alice (1788-1827), daughter of Richard Hatton of Park Lane (Lancs) and had issue:(1) Thomas Ainsworth (1804-81) (q.v.);(2) Anne Barton Ainsworth (b. 1806) of Leamington Spa; died unmarried, 10 October 1865; will proved 9 July 1866 (estate under £10,000);(3) Sarah Ainsworth (b. 1808) of Leamington Spa; died unmarried, 12 June 1875; will proved 17 July 1875 (estate under £18,000);(4) A daughter, died young.He died 13 May 1819. His will was proved in the Deanery Court of Amounderness, 17 January 1820.Ainsworth, Thomas (1804-81), of The Flosh. Only son of David Ainsworth (d. 1819) of Preston and his wife Alice, daughter of Richard Hatton of Park Lane (Lancs), born 21 March 1804. Linen manufacturer and iron master; in partnership with Alfred Holt from 1852 as part-owners of the Blue Funnel shipping line. High Sheriff of Cumberland, 1861; Income Tax Commissioner and member of Whitehaven Board of Guardians; a Liberal in politics. President of Manchester New College, 1860-63. He married, 24 May 1836, Mary Laurie (1808-67), daughter of Rev. John Stirling DD of Craigie (Ayrshire) and had issue:(1) David Ainsworth (1842-1906) of Wray Castle (q.v.); (2) Sir John Stirling Ainsworth (1844-1923), 1st bt. (q.v.); (3) Thomas Hamilton Ainsworth (1845-47); died in infancy;(4) Rev. William Macquhae Ainsworth (1848-91); born 20 December 1848; educated at University of London and Lincoln's Inn; Unitarian minister at Lancaster, 1877-83 and Brixton, 1884-91; disappeared and supposed to have accidentally drowned near Constantinople, 27 May 1891, during a visit to the Middle East; a memorial collection of his sermons, prayers and travel letters was published in 1891;(5) Mary Alice Ainsworth (1850-96), m. 1877, Dr. Thomas Sutton Townsend MD (c.1847-1918) and had issue; died 19 April 1896; will proved in London, 8 June 1896 (estate £1951).He purchased The Flosh and the Cleator Linen Mills in Cumberland in 1837. The Flosh was remodelled c.1840 and extended in 1866.He died 28 June 1881 and his will was proved 12 November 1881 (estate £55,862). An obituary was published in the Whitehaven News. His wife died 1 February 1867.Ainsworth, David (1842-1906), of Wray Castle Eldest son of Thomas Ainsworth (1804-81) and his wife Mary Laurie, daughter of Rev. Dr. John Stirling of Craigie (Ayrshire), born 2 March 1842. Flax manufacturer and ironmaster; director of local railway companies in Cumberland. Educated at University College London and Manchester New College (matriculated 1861), and Lincoln's Inn (called to the bar, 1870, but did not practice); Liberal MP for West Cumberland 1880-85, Egremont 1892-95. He was an active Unitarian and with his brother William visited American Unitarian congregations in 1872; President of the British & Foreign Unitarian Association, 1881-83; Treasurer 1874-91 and President 1896-1900 of Manchester New College. He married, Apr-June (or according to one source, 16 September) 1874, Margaret (1838-1920), daughter of Henry McConnel, cotton spinner, of Cressford (Derbys) but had no issue.He inherited The Flosh from his father in 1881, and purchased Wray Castle (Lancs) in 1898, but the latter was sold after his widow's death. He also maintained a London household in Pont Street, Chelsea.He died 21 February 1906 and his will was proved 23 May 1906 (estate £155,118); he left £20,000 to his 'devoted friend', Miss Maud Smith. His widow died 25 April 1920 and her will was proved 13 July 1920 (estate £20,909).Ainsworth, Sir John Stirling (1844-1923) of Ardanaiseig, 1st bt. Second son of Thomas Ainsworth (1804-81) and his wife Mary Laurie, daughter of Rev. Dr. John Stirling of Craigie (Ayrshire), born 30 January 1844. Educated at University College School and UCL (BA 1864, LLB 1866, MA 1868); High Sheriff of Cumberland 1891; Lt-Col. of 3rd vol. bttn. Border Regiment 1898-1902; MP for Argyllshire 1903-18; JP for Cumberland and Argyllshire. He married, 4 November 1879, Margaret Catherine (c.1855-1918), daughter of Robert Reid Macreadie of New South Wales and had issue: (1) Janet Mary Ainsworth (b. & d. 1880); died in infancy;(2) Jean Barbara Ainsworth (1883-1937), born 3 December 1883; m. 16 February 1905, Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington (1873-1956), 12th Viscount Massareene & Ferrard of Antrim Castle (Antrim) (who m.2, 1940, Mrs Florence Clementina Vere Vere-Laurie), and had issue one son and one daughter; (3) Sir Thomas Ainsworth (1886-1971), 2nd bt. (q.v.); (4) Margaret Louise Ainsworth (1887-1946), born 18 June 1887; m.1, 5 November 1912 Arthur George Murray Smith (1886-1914, died of wounds received in action), son of George Murray Smith of Gumley Hall (Leics) and had issue one son, and m.2, 26 November 1924, John Pollock (d. 1966) of Mountainstown, Navan, Meath and had further issue; she died 5 July 1946, aged 59; her will was proved 13 September 1947 (estate £14,280 in England)(5) John Stirling Ainsworth (1889-1914); born Oct-Dec 1889; killed in action, 13 October 1914.He purchased Harecroft Hall, Gosforth (Cumbld) and Ardanaiseig (Argylls) c. 1881. He rebuild the former and altered the latter. He inherited The Flosh (Cumbld) from his elder brother in 1906. He died 24 May 1923 at Harecroft Hall and his will was proved 18 December 1923 (estate £105,134). His wife died 8 October 1918.Ainsworth, Sir Thomas (1886-1971), 2nd bt. Elder and only surviving son of Sir John Stirling Ainsworth (1844-1923), 1st bt. and his wife Margaret Catherine, daughter of Robert Reid Macreadie of New South Wales, born 8 February 1886. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA); served as Lt., 11th Hussars, Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry; Steward of INHS Ctee, Jt-MFH and Huntsman Meath 1922–25, MFH and Huntsman Co Galway 1925–26, Kildare 1926–27 and Tipperary 1928–32; JP for Cumberland and Argyllshire. He married 1st, 9 February 1911 (divorce 1925), Lady Edina Dorothy Hope (1888-1964), daughter of Henry Francis Conyngham, 4th Marquess Conyngham (who m.2, 27 October 1925, Hans Wellesley Hamilton (1886-1942), 2nd Baron Holm Patrick), and married 2nd, 10 September 1925, Marie Eleanor (May) (1898-1969), daughter of Compton Charles Domvile and formerly wife of Evelyn Wentworth Hope-Johnstone, and had issue: (1.1) Sir John Francis Ainsworth (1912-81), 3rd bt. (q.v.); (1.2) Iris Helen Hersey Ainsworth (b. 1916), m. 22 April 1939, Nicholas St. Vigor Fox of Lough Park House, Castlepollard (Westmeath) and had issue two sons and one daughter; (2.1) Sir (Thomas) David Ainsworth (1926-99), 4th bt. (q.v.).He inherited The Flosh, Harecroft Hall and Ardanaiseig from his father but sold them all in the late 1930s and rented seats in hunting country including Braunston Manor (Leics), Ballinakill, Kilfinny (Limerick) and Ballyneale House (Limerick).He died 1 March 1971.Ainsworth, Sir John Francis (1912-81), 3rd bt. Only son of Sir Thomas Ainsworth (1886-1971), 2nd bt., and his first wife, Lady Edine Dorothy Hope-Conyngham, daughter of 4th Marquess Conyngham, born 4 January 1912. Educated Eton and Trinity College Cambridge (BA 1933, MA 1937); FRHistS; General Editor, British Record Society, 1937-40; Inspector of Manuscripts, Irish Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1943-50; on the staff of the National Library of Ireland 1950-c.1975; External Lecturer in Palaeography and Medieval History, University College, Cork 1966–81; District Commissioner, Kildare Branch of the Irish Pony Club 1959-62, Chairman of Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1965-66 (V-Chm 1963-65 and 1966-67), Jt Huntsman Curragh Beagles 1964–81. He married 1st, 26 August 1938 (div. 1946), Josephine, daughter of Cdr. Walter Randolph Bernard RN and 2nd, 19 February 1946, Anita Margaret Ann, daughter of Harold Arthur Lett of Kilgibbon and Ballynadara, Enniscorthy (Wexford) but had no issue.He lived at Carraphuca, Shankill, Dublin in 1972.He died 30 April 1981.Ainsworth, Sir (Thomas) David (1926-99), 4th bt. Only son of Sir Thomas Ainsworth (1886-1971), 2nd bt., and his second wife, Marie Eleanor (May), daughter of Compton Charles Domvile, born 22 August 1926. Educated Eton; served as Lieutenant, 11th Hussars; merchant banker. He married, 6 May 1957, Sarah Mary (fl. 2003), daughter of Lt-Col. Hugh Carr Walford and had issue: (1) Serena Mary Ainsworth (b. 1958), born 13 March 1958; m. 1987 Stelios Peratinos of Corfu and had issue two sons; (2) Tessa Jane Ainsworth (b. 1959), born 6 August 1959; m. 1986 Nicholas Cecil John Fortescue (b. 1953) and had issue twin daughters; (3) Sir Anthony Thomas Hugh Ainsworth (b. 1962), 5th bt.; born 30 March 1962; educated at Harrow; Lt. in Royal Hussars, 1982-85; director of Richard Glynn Consultants since 2000; m. 2003 Anong Pradith and has issue a daughter; lives in Bangkok (Thailand);(4) Charles David Ainsworth (b. 1966); born 24 August 1966; educated at Harrow; company director.He died 24 November 1999.

About Me

I was educated at St Paul's School in London and Keble College, Oxford and went on to train as an archivist in the world-famous Bodleian Library. I spent 37 years as a professional archivist, and was Chairman of the National Council on Archives from 2001 to 2005, and Head of Archives Sector Development and Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Commission at the National Archives from 2005 until I retired in May 2015.

Alongside my professional career I have also been an architectural historian of the country house. This is a passion nurtured at Oxford, where I was President of the University Architectural Society. Between 1989 and 2001 my three volume study of The country houses of Gloucestershire was published, and my distinctive contribution has been to put together the evidence for the history of country houses and landed estates that can be gleaned from family archives and genealogy with the evidence from the buildings themselves, to tell a richer narrative than any of these sources alone can provide. I am now embarked on an ambitious blog (http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk), which aims to tell the story of every landed family in the British Isles and their country houses. If I continue working hard until I am a centenarian I might finish the job!

Since one big project is never enough, I am also involved as a Trustee and volunteer with the Victoria County History of England, which aims to tell the story of every English village and town, and I do some advisory work for the National Trust, which looks after so many of the country houses I care passionately about.

I have been married for 37 years to my precious and special wife Mary, who mercifully tolerates my obsessions and collections, and even my cooking.